Pro-lifers oppose “extreme” bill in Maine that seeks to legalize abortion after fetal viability

05/19/2023 / By Laura Harris

Pro-life advocates have expressed their opposition to an “extreme” late-term abortion bill during a hearing in the Maine Legislature earlier this month.

The hearing tackled the bill introduced by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, which seeks to legalize abortion after fetal viability, or around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Fetal viability refers to the ability of a human fetus to survive outside the uterus.

Many of the pro-life advocates who signed up used their two minutes to speak out against the infanticide bill, including Penny and Eric Winter.

Penny reiterated her belief that “viable children need to be protected.” Her husband Eric agreed, saying: “We’re not talking about something done to some helpless tissue. This is a body with arms and legs and a heartbeat and face that is exposed to abortion by this bill.”

Ann Dowdy, a mother of six, also testified that time. She even brought her daughter Rejoice, who was born prematurely and spent three months in a neonatal ICU, to the hearing. “I think it is wrong to be killing our babies when they could be living.”

“If a baby can survive outside its mother, that means that it is alive. It has a life,” Audrey Wimmer testified. “By terminating viable pregnancies, we are being shown that lives don’t matter, and that isn’t important.”

Concurrent with the hearing, pro-life advocates also held a Speak Up For Life rally in the State House’s Hall of Flags. They voiced out their opposition to the bill and rebuked Mills for promoting infanticide. Barbara Ford of Godparent Home Ministries addressed the crowd: “Mills may be the leader of this state, but we say “Governor, we know you’re wrong.'”

GOP lawmakers in Maine challenge abortion bill

Mills and 90 other Democrats proposed the bill, which mainly expands abortion up to a later time in pregnancy with a doctor’s recommendation. The governor also added that the abortion bill has the backing of various groups, such as the Maine Council of Churches, Maine Medical Association, ACLU of Maine and Maine Women’s Lobby. (Related: hose who side with Democrats are siding with DEATH, warns Pro-Life Health Ranger.)

However, anti-abortion groups like Maine Right to Life and the Christian Civic League of Maine have spoken out against it. Republican lawmakers in the Pine Tree State also denounced the bill, calling it evil and extreme.

Maine Senate Assistant Minority Leader Sen. Lisa Keim, blasted the proposal as a radical expansion of abortion that are both unnecessary and inhumane. “Government should not be in the business of promoting [the] death of the unborn,” she said.

State Rep. Laurel Libby remarked: “We are here to say ‘no’ to late-term abortion. We are here to say ‘no’ to killing babies that would survive outside their mother’s womb.”

Maine House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Amy Arata blasted the bill on the State House floor. She called it “beneath the dignity of this body” and urged fellow lawmakers to vote it down “before it has a chance to kill anybody.”

“It’s my hope that the Democrats will search their heart, search their intellect, change their minds and vote against this,” Arata said.

To say this bill is evil would be a severe understatement,” remarked State Rep. Reagan Paul. “God alone numbers our days, not Janet Mills.”

Visit Abortions.news for more stories about abortion bills in different states.

Watch this video that asks if Republicans are pulling back on abortion.

This video is from the channel The New American on Brighteon.com.